Indian’s Death Prompts Irish Vote on Abortion

People in Dublin held banners of Mrs. Halappanavar at a rally demanding abortion be made legal in Ireland, Nov. 17, 2012.

In late October last year, Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old dentist originally from India’s southern state of Karnataka, went to hospital in Galway, Ireland, with severe back pain.

Doctors attending Mrs. Halappanavar – 17 weeks pregnant at the time – told her she was having a miscarriage, a spokesman for the University Hospital Galway, where she was treated, said.

Mrs. Halappanavar, who moved from India to Ireland with her husband Praveen Halappanavar in 2008, asked to have an abortion but physicians told her that a termination would violate the country’s abortion laws, according to the family’s lawyer and a spokesman for the hospital. Doctors in majority Catholic Ireland are forbidden from terminating an unborn child when the fetus’ heart is still beating. The country’s constitution includes a blanket ban on abortions.

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The staff waited three days, until the 17-week-old fetus had died, before surgically removing it from the womb, according to a report carried out by Ireland’s department for health.

But by that time, Mrs. Halappanavar had already developed advanced septicemia, the report said. Septicemia is usually caused by the body’s response to a bacterial infection in the bloodstream.

Mrs. Halappanavar died in the hospital from complications resulting from her pregnancy, the report said.

Associated Press

An undated photo of Mrs. Halappanavar.

The jury at the coroner’s inquest into her death found that Mrs. Halappanavar died from “medical misadventure” involving the failure of the hospital’s staff to identify, document and address her development of blood poisoning, according to reports of the inquest.

In a statement in June, Ireland’s Health Minister James Reilly said that the Halappanavar family, “have had to endure a terrible loss that should never have occurred. We must all work together to ensure that the lessons are learned and implemented to prevent such a tragedy occurring again.”

Mrs. Halappanavar’s death renewed calls to reform abortion laws in Ireland, with activists taking to the streets to protest the country’s stringent law against the practice. There were also protests in India and England, putting pressure on the Irish government to revise its abortion laws.

On Wednesday, lawmakers in the lower house of Ireland’s Parliament will cast a final vote on the “Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill,” which would legalize abortion in cases where the life of the mother is at risk, and clearly define what constitutes such risk.

Ahead of the vote in Dublin, Gerard O’Donnell, the lawyer for the Halappanavar family, who played a key role in mobilizing public action on the abortion debate, spoke to India Real Time about the need for legislative overhaul and the role played by the Indian community in pushing for change in Ireland.

Edited excerpts:

The Wall Street Journal: What does the existing legal framework say about abortions in Ireland?

Gerard O’Donnell: Aborting a child is a criminal offense in Ireland. Doctors can be put behind bars for doing so.

But in 1992, acting on the plea for abortion by a 14-year-old rape victim – popularly dubbed as the “X-Case” in Ireland – the Supreme Court ruled terminations were permissible when there is “real and substantial risk” to the life of the mother, including the risk of the mother committing suicide, as there was in the case of that young girl.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Praveen Halappanavar, pictured, is suing the hospital for inadequate care.

WSJ: Then why did doctors refuse to abort Mrs. Halappanavar’s baby?

Mr. O’Donnell: Because the definition of “real and substantial risk” is open to interpretation. What may seem potentially life threatening to one doctor may not to another. It’s a judgment call.

WSJ: What will the abortion law, if approved, change?

Mr. O’Donnell: Tragic cases like Mrs. Halappanavar’s arise because there is ambiguity on what constitutes “real and substantial risk” to the life of the mother. There is no common consensus on the matter. Doctors attending to requests for abortion, even in cases where the health of the mother is deteriorating, feel a termination would result in a breach of law.

A well-defined law would change that. It will put in place guidelines – currently absent in our framework – on when to act.

WSJ: Do you think Mrs. Halappanavar would be alive if there was such clarity in the law at the time?

Mr. O’Donnell: There’s no doubt about that. She would be alive if there was early intervention by medical practitioners.

WSJ: Tell us about the role played by the Indian community in pushing for legislative overhaul in Ireland.

Mr. O’Donnell: There’s been tremendous pressure from India. That’s perhaps one of the reasons why we’re even having this week’s legislative proceeding.

When news of Mrs. Halappanavar’s death became public, the Indian ambassador held talks with Irish officials, putting weight on the government to act. Meanwhile, the Indian community in Ireland helped mobilize public support. Rallies, protests, talks were held in support of Mrs. Halappanavar. People from all walks of life – Indian, Irish, those from other nationalities – joined hands and encouraged debate on the law. The call for legislative change from the Irish and foreign press, particularly the Indian media, also helped the cause.

WSJ: Mrs Halappanavar’s husband Praveen has played a key role in mobilizing public support on the case. What does he have to say ahead of the vote on the abortion bill?

Mr. O’Donnell: He has said that he hopes whatever happened to his wife never happens again to another woman in Ireland.

For that, laws need to be cleared beyond doubt for medical practitioners so that they know how to respond if a case like Mrs. Halappanavar’s presents itself again.

About India Real Time

India Real Time offers analysis and insights into the broad range of developments in business, markets, the economy, politics, culture, sports, and entertainment that take place every single day in the world’s largest democracy. Regular posts from Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires reporters around the country provide a unique take on the main stories in the news, shed light on what else mattered and why, and give global readers a snapshot of what Indians have been talking about all week. You can contact the editors at indiarealtime(at)wsj(dot)com.